Sligo Film Society, in partnership with The Model Cinema, will screen a special preview of the new Irish-language feature, Arracht, ahead of its nationwide release.

The current SFS Spring season has reached the midway point and the latter part of the programme packs many big titles that have been wowing critics and audiences alike. Arguably the big highlight is ‘Parasite’ which will screen on 25th March. The South Korean drama made history at this year’s Academy Awards for winning both Best Film and Best International Film.

Other notable titles include The Lighthouse starring WiIlem Defoe and Robert Pattinson who play Lighthouse keepers on a remote New England island in 1890s and in their isolation slowly descend into madness. The season closer is French drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire, winner of the Best Screenplay and Queer Palm prizes at Cannes Film Festival it has been lauded as a meditation on passion, art and feminism.

On 5th March the film society will host a screening as part of the Dublin International Film Festival. Presented by the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival and access>CINEMA, Sligo is one of six locations to host Arracht as part of a special tour that has been supported by the Arts Council. There will be an opportunity for Sligo film audiences to meet the filmmakers with a post-screening Q&A facilitated by Patrick Curley.

Actor and filmmaker Tom Sullivan’s feature debut is a strong, character-driven thriller set during a tumultuous period in Irish history. Produced with support from TG4, Screen Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) through the Cine4 scheme, Arracht had its international premiere at the Tallin Black Nights Film Festival in November 2019.

Told in the Irish language and set on the eve of The Great Hunger, Arracht (meaning Monster) tells of a fisherman who takes in a stranger on the request of a priest. Events that follow lead to tragic personal struggles, but hope may come in the form of a young girl who needs his help.

Screenings take place on Thursdays at 8pm in The Model Cinema. themodel.ie/whats-on/cinema/